Fee, careers make Indian varsities attractive

Institutes at career fair open to welcoming students from region due to better language skills.

Students like Monica Sivaprakash (14) and Rahila Rafiq (19), who are currently pursuing their school education in the UAE said that studying in India will open up opportunities that they will ‘never experience here’.

Students and parents at the fair. —KT photos by Rahul Gajjar

And it has become apparent that Indian expatriate students and parents still prefer India as a destination for higher education. “It is not like there is a dearth of opportunities here, but as far as we know, competition is way more cut-throat in India, which is sometimes a good thing,” said Rafiq.

Several students and parents who attended the first two-day Hindu Education Fair in Movenpick Hotel, Oud Mehta, Dubai, said they prefer going back to India to pursue their higher education, owing to affordable fee structure and better career opportunities.

David Wilson inaugurates The Hindu Education Fair at Movenpick Hotel, Dubai, on Saturday.

Organised by the Indian national daily The Hindu, it is the first time that the fair is making its way to this region. The fair was inaugurated by David Wilson, Director of Asian Schools, GEMS Education and Chief Academic Officer, GEMS Education India, on Saturday, January 18. Participating Universities include Hindustan University, SRM University, VIT University, Amity University, Karunya University, Rajalakshmi University, Saveetha University, and The National Management School.

Varsities that attended the fair said that they are open to welcoming students from the Middle East, since the students have higher language skills. Though most schools have a designated quota for NRI students, the universities said that they are open to bringing in students from the Middle East, mostly because, local students could benefit from the skill set of students from the UAE.

Dr Sindhu Ramesh, Dentist and Professor of Department of Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics and Head of Department of School of Dentistry at Saveetha University, Chennai spoke to Khaleej Times on the sidelines of the Fair. “The students are verbal about their in campus experiences, making them better spokespersons for the college. We also get a good feedback from the students on college culture, unlike their Indian counterparts who are generally shy about speaking their minds.”

Dr N Sasikumar, Associate Professor in Materials Chemistry and Head of Department at Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), said: “We’ve never had a problem with students from the region. Their language skills and fundamental skills are really good as well. Since 2005, we’ve had a steady intake of students from the region into our campuses. Apart from Middle Eastern students, we also have a high intake of foreign national students, of which about 500 odd are Chinese.”

Students like Rahila Rafiq said they would prefer going back to India to pursue their higher education for the simple reason that there are a better variety of courses on offer. “I want to complete my graduation in Media and there are only two universities that offer the course here in Dubai and there are no specialisations, as well. It is also way more affordable back home.” Saivarshini Ravi (15) attending the fair said: “There are better job opportunities in India as compared to here. I will definitely want to go back to India to pursue my higher study.”

Priya Srikanth, Senior Deputy Regional Manager- Advertising, The Hindu said: “There is a huge Indian expatriate population that eventually wants to return home. It only made sense that we bring the fair to Dubai. Indian education is on par with Western education standards. Education is a sector that is very strong in India, high standards have to be maintained in these colleges, otherwise they will not be given a deemed University status by the government.”

e-Paper of The Hindu In School

The e-Paper of The Hindu In School was launched at the fair. “Through the e platform mode we intend to reach out to more students mainly to penetrate our target group who could be tapped through the regular school route for subscriptions. This strategy also would help us ‘Go Global’. The year gone by has been a very eventful one for the school edition, the effort we in circulation took along with editorial has paid off to a large extent and the market today is more or less accepting the value of the product at the revised commercials,” said D Rajkumar, Regional General Manager, Business Development Alternate Channel.